Nectandra Institute

Conservation, Restoration and Advocacy programs: Restoration and conservation efforts continued on lands totalling 570 acres purchased by local community organizations with eco-loans from Nectandra Institute. During 2022, we co-ordinated over 862 person-hours of restoration and monitoring work, including tree planting, measuring tree growth, monitoring the water volume flowing from springs and in streams, and photo documentation of forest restoration progress. Conservation of lands acquired through Nectandra Institute eco-loans has improved the protection of the sources of drinking water for ca. 16000 people. Additional conservation work continued on 40 acres of land owned by Nectandra Institute. We increased participation with other regional and national organizations to exchange topical information including the inter-institutional commission for the Paseo de Nubes bio-corridor, which exists to strengthen the biological connectivity between Juan Castro Blanco National Park and the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Preserve--a species and endemism hotspot, and CONAFLU, a national confederation of water management associations in Costa Rica.

Waterways monitoring & research: With assistance from volunteers in Costa Rica and abroad, we continued monitoring stream water quality at 24 different sampling points within the upper Balsa River watershed. Inventory work continued on the fauna of the Nectandra Cloud Forest Preserve, with special focus this year on Dipterans with collaboration of international expert entomologists. Flying insects were continuously trapped for the entire year. All phorid flies and parasitic wasps specimens were submitted for DNA bar coding.